The Environmental Protection Agency today recognized that environmental groups are suing it to force EPA to update limits on harmful soot, sulfur and nitrogen air pollution. The suit, Center for Biological Diversity, et al. v. EPA, No. 4:22-cv-02285, was filed on 13 April. EPA last put new standards in place for the three pollutants in 2012 and 2013. Updates were due in 2017 and 2018. EPA ignored them it is alleged. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Plaintiffs appear to have a compelling case. According to the pleadings, EPA’s latest update and review of the welfare-based standards for sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides was in June 2012; new standards were due in June 2017. The EPA last updated the particulate matter welfare-based standards in March 2013, so new updates to those standards were due in March 2018. Continue reading
GM Ultium-based EVs Now Have a Heat Pump
Another step n energy efficiency.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) today announced that its Ultium-based EVs can now capture and re-use waste energy from the battery. Through the new Ultium Platform’s energy recovery system, this waste energy can increase a vehicle’s range, reduce battery energy needed for heating, increase charging speed and enable more aggressive driving.
Since EV batteries, power electronics and other propulsion components produce heat, this is another step toward the more efficient use of energy. The Ultium Platform can recover and store this waste heat from the Ultium propulsion system. It can also capture and use humidity from both inside and outside the vehicle, including body heat from passengers. The Ultium Platform can then deploy energy stored through the recovery process to heat the cabin more quickly in cold weather than comparable systems found in vehicles with an internal combustion engine. Continue reading →